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At least four people have been killed and as many as 100 children are feared trapped after a building, home to a primary school and kindergarten, collapsed in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

The governor of Lagos state said yesterday that some people have been killed, but official numbers have not yet been released. 

“We have rescued about 25 people, some already dead,” said governor Akinwunmi Ambode. 

The incident took place near Itafaji market on Lagos Island at around 10:00am local time. 

“Dozens of children were trapped inside,” said Adesina Tiamiyu, head of Lagos state emergency management agency (SEMA), which is supervising the rescue operation.

So far, emergency workers had pulled 40 people alive from the rubble, some of them badly injured, he said. 

But they had also recovered “more than four dead bodies”, Tiamiyu said without giving an exact figure.

Workers from the Red Cross and police shovelled debris away as thousands of people swarmed around the accident site, erupting into cheers as limp forms were pulled from the rubble.

Residents of the area said that around 100 children attended the school, which was on the third floor of the building.

The structure also housed offices, shops and residential units. 

School bags, toys and clothes could be seen among the piles of rubble as a bulldozer tried to clear a path through some of the wreckage. 

While awaiting official rescue efforts, many locals and passersby began their own attempts to free people from the rubble, using their bare hands to shift slabs. 

“I was passing by and heard a house collapsed. I had to straight away reach people living in there to rescue those that could be rescued,” a man involved in the rescue efforts said. 

“At least some people have been rescued and taken to hospitals. They are mainly students as there is a school there,” he said. 

Locals passed water and helmets to dust-covered rescuers attempting to sift through the debris.

One local resident said news agency that the building collapsed without warning.

“We were smoking outside when the building just collapsed,” said Olamide Nuzbah. 

On the densely populated Lagos Island, buildings are often put up without official permissions or clearances, according to Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris, reporting from the Nigeria’s capital, Abuja.

Lagos is one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, resulting in fierce competition for land.

It is not clear whether the collapsed building failed to meet safety standards.  

“It’s common to find schools in residential areas and in other locations that were not meant for educational institutions,” Idris said.

– Al Jazeera